Starting a small business doesn’t come with a template. There are no handbooks, ebooks, “ultimate guides” that can give you a clear step-by-step in how to start a company or how to build a team for your small business. No two journeys are the same, and it can be basically impossible to replicate someone’s evolution into a successful small business owner.

That’s something that we’ve learned here at Dune, as we carve our own path in the brick and mortar space. We’re the first shop of our kind here in Stoughton, Wisconsin, which forces us to look at our situation from a unique perspective. We can’t follow the advice of someone who started their business in New York, in Chicago, or even in Madison. We can only take bits of pieces of others’ experiences and work through them trial-and-error style to see if they fit our business, if they can work here at Dune.

Living this dream in a small town is its own adventure, and we want to share some of our learnings with anyone who might be trying to create something similar in their town. If even a small piece of what we share can help you, it’s worth it to us.

Today, we’re talking about building a team for your small business: why you should do it, when you should expand, and who you should hire first. We’re even giving you a glimpse into our own team, so you can see where we’ve been investing in our business’ success.

In the beginning, we think we can do it all on our own

The typical small business owner is someone who revels in taking on a challenge and figuring out a solution all on their own. It’s why they’re not interested in the structure of a 9-5 or playing within a specific set of rules. They were made to create their own worlds, and they feel a responsibility to set the standard, accomplish the day’s tasks, and smash their own goals single handedly.

We’re talking in third person, but what we actually mean is we. We are just like this. In the beginning, we didn’t think we needed a team around us. We believed that we could handle it, that any obstacle we had to face was something we could tackle on our own.

In our minds, it almost felt like hiring a team meant we couldn't handle it, or that we weren’t doing enough.

That couldn’t be further from the truth.

Why hiring a team is the best thing you can do for your business

Hiring a team is the best thing you can do for your business to help it grow. Put it this way: there are only 24 hours in a day, and you should be spending 8 of them sleeping (if you’re lucky, and if your kids have started sleeping through the night).

That gives you 16 hours total to get through the day-to-day tasks in your business (again, if you’re lucky, and if you don’t take into account time for distractions, or, you know, eating).

Those daily tasks get you through the week: answering emails, sourcing new brands to carry in your shop, merchandising, invoicing, working the cash wrap, interacting with customers, cleaning the shop, maybe having time to post on social media.

Those day-to-day tasks don’t allow you to focus on growing your business. They keep you afloat, but they don’t give you the capacity to ride the wave, to see the forest through the trees, to have a meaningful impact on the future of your business. If all of your time is spent just getting through the day, how can you possibly have the time to build an email list, develop a strategic marketing plan, foster partnerships with similar business owners, host events, work on SEO for your website, etc.

Growing a small business is not a one woman gig. We’ve said it once, but we’ll say it again: hiring a team is the best thing you can do to grow your business.

When should you hire a team?

So, how do you know when you’re ready to hire a team for your small business? It can be tempting to hire a team within the first few months of business, to get your growth going right away. However, that might not be the most efficient way to go.

To know that you’re really ready to hire a team, it’s important to feel out the parts of your business that aren’t getting enough attention. It may take 3-6 months to understand what you can get done on your own, quickly, and what is always falling to the bottom of your to-do list.

You’ll know that it’s time to hire a team when one of the following situations is happening: 1) nearly half of your to-do list is going incomplete each week, 2) your business is beginning to plateau because of your inability to complete necessary growth-focused action items.

When you start to notice these signs, don’t wait much longer before starting to curate your team. The addition of even one part-time helping hand could put you in a much better position and buy you time before you need to hire the rest of your team members.

The first positions that you should hire for a brick and mortar small business

Who you hire first is just as important as when you hire.

It’s said that we have the natural tendency to hire people who are similar to us, with skill sets that mirror our own, because we trust that they will make similar choices to our own. We think of them as an extension of ourselves, and think of the possibilities that could come to fruition if we could only “clone ourselves”.

Alas, that’s a fantasy - there is no way to hire someone who is exactly like you. And you wouldn’t want to! If you hired someone who is just like you, you wouldn’t bring new perspectives into your business. You might get more done, but there is no way to tell whether you’re doing the right things. You might be missing out on a key skill set that would complement your own instead of simply duplicating it.

For example, as a business owner you likely have either a creative or an analytical mind. Wouldn’t you want to hire someone who can look at a situation from the opposite angle, and fill a hole in your business? Someone who could give you something new, instead of more of the same?

The other misconception about hiring a team for your business is that you have to hire full-time employees. Today’s workforce is becoming more and more focused on contractors and entrepreneurs. To get your team started, it may make sense to hire part-time employees, freelancers, or even other entrepreneurs to shore up some of your weaker skills.

Without further ado, here are the positions that you should hire first in your business:

Virtual Assistant

A virtual assistant is the ultimate part-time do-everything team member. Virtual assistants are often entrepreneurs themselves, taking care of a number of clients within a specialized area of business administration. They can help with things like customer service emails, fulfilling online orders, posting to social media, pitching you to press outlets or podcasts - generally taking some of your most time-consuming tasks off your plate so that you can focus on growing your business where it counts.

Accountant

Your business is not a business without revenue, profit and loss statements, monthly bills, and taxes. If you don’t have experience with managing complex business finances, it could make sense to hire an accountant to take care of your money so that you can keep your business going and growing without worrying about the legal implications of every purchase.

Graphic Designer/Web Designer

Having a cohesive brand is important for a new small business. In the beginning, you won’t have great brand recognition beyond your inner circle. Hiring a graphic designer, or even a web designer, after you’ve confirmed that your business is viable is a smart move to create longevity. Whether you go with a freelance designer who can work with you on projects as needed, or a full-time in-house designer to maximize your branding, a team member with a creative eye is a great addition to your business.

Content Creator

It’s so important to have a digital presence today, even as a small business. Creating content is the key to positioning yourself and your business as a thought leader in your industry. Content creators can work on anything from social media to blogs, YouTube videos to digital ads. If you want to focus more on the in-store, tangible pieces of your business, it can be helpful to have a content creator on your team.

The Dune Gift + Home team

To give you a quick peek into the team that we have put together here at Dune, we’d like to give you a few quick introductions!

Cire’ - owner, curator, visual merchandising

Cire is the owner and founder of Dune Gift + Home, the OG Stoughton native and creative genius behind our favorite curated home goods and gift shop.

Heather - product development, visual merchandising, window display

Heather has been with Dune since the very beginning, and has even been featured in a few of Cire Alexandria’s jewelry lookbooks. She’s the perfect partner in crime for styling the shop, and our inspiring window displays.

Lauren - floor manager, retail specialist

Lauren is our in-store retail specialist, helping customers find exactly they’re looking for in the shop, and keeping Dune looking fresh and new.

Mike - counter manager, conversation starter

Mike is a staple here at Dune, making small talk with customers and bringing great energy behind the counter. He’s also married to Cire’ (lucky guy!).

Elsie - Dune Mascot and product testing

This sweet face is the reason why we do what we do here at Dune. She’s the inspiration behind our clean beauty and nontoxic baby goods, and she’s also Cire’s little girl.

Emma - blog manager, content creator

Emma popped into the shop one day and knew that she wanted to be a part of the Dune movement. Now, she creates the content for our blog (inception!) and manages our Pinterest account.

Hanah - Photography

Hanah has a great eye, and we knew right away that she’d be a perfect fit for bringing Dune’s interiors to life through photography - after all, she is Cire’s sister! She creates gorgeous photographs for small business social media accounts, so she has the experience to back it up (catch her at @h.claire_photography). Hanah’s the one who captures Dune the way it was meant to be seen, for those who haven’t had the chance to make it into the shop just yet.

How to Build a Team For Your Small Business